Some in Sunset Park worry their experience of random violence will invoke a response more focused on carceral measures than addressing structural inequalities that shape public safety. “When I think about safety here, I think of how we need stimulus relief bills, unemployment and healthcare,” one local resident told City Limits. “Not police.”
“The tragedy occurred despite the massive resources poured into NYPD and the continued expansion of its law enforcement powers.”
While the policy is handed down by the mayor, an array of New Yorkers—from everyday residents to top city officials to nonprofit service providers—play a role in recommending locations for sweeps, according to hundreds of internal emails reviewed by City Limits.
“If we are truly invested in preventing and eventually ending this horrific blight of hatred and violence against people who are homeless, we must work to end homelessness itself. This can be accomplished in two phases: immediately offering stabilization beds to New Yorkers living on the street, and providing permanent affordable housing.”
“Our elected officials are threatening hard-fought reforms designed to counteract the historic – and present – racism in law enforcement that targets my neighbors and eventually will target my son. Meanwhile, they fail to invest in our communities.”
The Adams administration has touted Safe Havens as an alternative for those who would rather sleep outside than in a traditional homeless shelter. But there are too few of the facilities to accommodate the majority of unsheltered New Yorkers.
“Using police to remove the homeless off the subways, we have to be very careful about that,” Councilmember Diana Ayala said in an interview on WBAI’s City Watch. “Most of these people are not hurting anyone.They’re just looking for a warm place to sleep at night.”
The shootings occurred amid a crackdown on New Yorkers sleeping on the subways, and reflected a recent spike in the number of homeless New Yorkers slain by assailants.
In 2021, 45.9 percent or 350 of the tickets issued to street vendors by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) were for unlicensed vending, and this year, 12.8 percent (22 tickets) have already been issued for the same reason.
De junio a diciembre de 2021, el Departamento de Protección del Consumidor y del Trabajador (DCWP por sus siglas en inglés), que asumió las funciones de inspección y aplicación de la ley a los vendedores ambulantes en 2021, emitió 762 multas y en lo corrido del año ya van 171 multas. Los cinco códigos postales en los que más se aplicó la ley fueron aquellos con una gran población inmigrante.
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
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